Date: 1747-8

"There is no triumph in force! No conquest over the will! --No prevailing, by gentle degrees, over the gentle passions!"

— Richardson, Samuel (bap. 1689, d. 1761)

Date: 1747-8

Clarissa gives an instance "of a passion conquered, when there were so many inducements to give way to it"

— Richardson, Samuel (bap. 1689, d. 1761)

Date: 1748

"There is nothing more certain, that that there are two Kinds of Conviction, one flowing from a sudden and violent breaking-in of Truth, when the Understanding is as it were taken by Storm, and a Man's whole System of Thinking is changed in an Instant: the other a gradual, gentle, and slow steali...

— Anonymous; [Lyttleton]

Date: 1748, 1754

"How supporting in such a Case, nay how preservative must it be to his Integrity, and what an Antidote against that Gloom and Fretfulness which are apt to invade the Mind in such Circumstances of Trial, to believe that infinite Wisdom and Goodness preside in the Universe."

— Fordyce, David (bap. 1711, d. 1751)

Date: August 12, 1738, to Nov. 1, 1739 [1748]

"As to the Outward Manner You speak of, wherein most of them were affected who were cut to the Heart by the Sword of Spirit, no wonder that this was at first surprising to You, since they are indeed so very rare, that have been thus prick'd and wounded."

— Wesley, John (1703-1791)

Date: 1749

Nature "corresponding with her sweet assailant," may invade "in the heart of [a woman's] capital," and carry it by storm, while she lays "at the mercy of the proud conqueror, who had made his entry triumphantly, and completely"

— Cleland, John (bap. 1710, d. 1789)

Date: 1748, 1749

"And where is the wonder that the body when in health should be subservient, for how can it resist that torrent of blood, and all those spirits which are ready to force obedience, the will having for its ministers an invisible army of fluids, always ready to receive its orders, and as quick as li...

— Julien Offray de La Mettrie (1709-1751)

Date: 1749

"Thus, not all the Charms of the incomparable Sophia; not all the dazzling Brightness, and languishing Softness of her Eyes; the Harmony of her Voice, and of her Person; not all her Wit, good Humour, Greatness of Mind, or Sweetness of Disposition, had been able so absolutely to conquer and enslav...

— Fielding, Henry (1707-1754)

Date: 1749

"I am not used, Madam, said Jones, to submit to such sudden Conquests; but as you have taken my Heart by Surprize, the rest of my Body hath a Right to follow"

— Fielding, Henry (1707-1754)

Date: 1749

One may feel a "glowing Warmth" which fills the Breast, on the first Contemplation of a Victory over his Passion

— Fielding, Henry (1707-1754)